Verity
Norvin came with us willingly.
Too willingly, in my opinion.
I knew it would come to no good, but after he claimed Alek's sole purpose for his presence in my life was to murder me, I had to get out of Aurum Venari's basement. I wasn't done milking the bastard for information, but here we were on his turf when I needed home court advantage.
Still... I expected him to put up some sort of resistance rather than leave willingly with a woman he thought might maul him to death at any moment.
After a nearly silent car ride in which Norvin had the audacity to point out several of his favorite eateries like we were on a road trip instead of dragging the architect of my demise out to the burbs, we arrived at my father's house.
"Think your father will recognize him?" Alek asked me as we made our way up the front walkway.
"I'm not taking to you," I said, even though I was wondering the same thing. "Guess it's a good thing I didn't change your name in my contacts list, Mr. Douchbag."
"Verity, please hear me out."
He tried to pull me aside, but I yanked my arm from his grasp. "Let's focus on the task at hand. The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner I can hire a new bodyguard and change my alarm code."
His face fell. "I would never hurt you."
I turned away from his puppy dog face. He smelled like desperation and remorse, but I wasn't in the headspace to sort out my feelings for him or decide whether he'd fully cast off his prior convictions. It was a little hard to think ahead when I couldn't help playing Norvin's words on repeat. He was planning on killing you.
How does one get over that, especially if the threat might not be in the past?
I let myself in, pushing Norvin ahead of me. "Dad?"
The house was as silent as Val's had been.
"Did they take him too?" Flora asked me.
She poked at Norvin's shoulder. "Did you kidnap Verity's father? Are you holding our parents together until you can use them as sacrifices in one of your cult rituals?"
Norvin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You are truly clueless, aren't you?"
Not sure if Flora's cluelessness might have some merit or not, I sent my dad a quick text letting him know we were at his house. His response came immediately.
"He's at the grocery store," I told everyone. "Not being held hostage. We can expect him home soon."
"Is your father a good cook?" Norvin asked.
It took me a while to process such a mundane question. If he'd asked me if my dad consorted with witches in a forest clearing at half past midnight, I somehow would have been less surprised by it.
"Why do you want to know?"
Norvin shrugged. "I'm feeling peckish. Since the three of you have disrupted my dinner plans, the least you can do is feed me a decent meal. Is it too late to call your father and ask if he'll pick up a nice tenderloin?"
I was beginning to see where Alek got his exasperating asshole tendencies.
"You're really lucky we're being nice to you," Flora said in a more restrained version of what I was thinking myself. "If I didn't need you conscious to tell me where my mom is, I'd punch you senseless."
"That went dark quickly," Norvin said. "As for your mom..."
"As for my mom...what?"
He paused, chest puffing up like he was a chickadee announcing himself to his fellow bird brethren. "I feel strongly that you are worrying needlessly."
Alek, who'd been hovering in the entryway this whole time, crossed the room and broke from his self-imposed chains of silence. "So, you do know something."
Norvin waved his hands. "I didn't say that."
Alek towered over him with arms crossed. "Do you think we're incapable of inference, old man?"
"I hate when you call me that. I'm just saying, if you're reading between the lines, use caution."
"Oh my God," Flora kicked at the couch a foot away from Norvin's leg. "I get it. Secret societies love their stupid cyphers and riddles. But enough is enough. Maybe you should remember that we have a werewolf on our side." She glanced my way. "Well, a werewolf of sorts. And we'll sick him on you if we need to."
"Flora!" I yelled, shocked. "My wolf is me, remember. I used she/her pronouns in both human and wolf form. Also, maybe don't use me as a threat of bodily harm."
"I'm sorry, Verity, but I need to know what he knows. And something tells me he'll be a lot more cooperative after a couple of fangs have pierced his skin."
"I'm not a killing machine!" I insisted, but judging from the sickly pallor Norvin's skin had taken on, he didn't quite believe me.
"Perhaps I haven't been as clear as I could have been," Norvin said. "I apologize. What I meant to say, Flora, is that I haven't been lying in regard to your mother, and as far as I'm aware, Val is perfectly fine. We—meaning Aurum Venari – haven't abducted her, but we do know where she is. And while I can't tell you that location, I can promise you that she is safe."
This admission made me anxious. Again, it had come with way more ease than I had anticipated. Just what was Norvin playing at?
Flora seemed as unbalanced by his words as I was. "How can she be safe if you have her hidden away?"
"It was her choice," Norvin said. "And my hope is that it's temporary. Of course, that depends on the two of them." He pointed to Alek and me.
I tried to connect the dots.
Dot 1: Val Marquez knew my mom and worked for Aurum Venari at the time of her death.
Dot 2: Val had fostered my friendship with Flora and then doted on me, seemingly to help make up for my mother's absence.
Dot 3: By this time, I'd been experimented on, and so had Alek.
Dot 4: We had no memory of the nature of these experiments.
Dot 5: Val was one of the few people who would remember, because she'd been directly involved.
It was around Dot 6 that I started to lose track of the lines I was connecting from point to point. Did I have all the dots I needed to form a cohesive picture or was I still missing some. Norvin would know that answer.
"Did you turn me into this?" I asked him.
"A popstar? Absolutely not." He leaned back with his hands behind his head and grinned. "I'm more of a jazz guy myself."
"Cut it out. This isn't the time to be cute! Did you experiment on me? Is that why I can project a damn wolf out of my head? And if I can, after what your stupid lab did to us, why can't Alek?"
"Verity!" Alek shot laser death glare eyes at me.
Norvin's skin grew even more sallow. "What was that about Alek?"
Flora's mouth gaped open. She looked between Alek and me for confirmation.
Shit. I had promised to leave him out of this for now. His secrets were his to spill. Still, he'd been contracted to kill me, so how badly should I really feel?"
A jostling of the front door provided me with an excuse to back out of the room. "That would be my dad," I said. "He must have forgotten his house key again. Be right back."
"Wait, Verity, I should get that," Alek said, but he was a good ten feet behind me.
I sped up, crossing out of the living room, up the hallway and to the front door, hoping to let in my father before Alek got a chance to berate me.
I unlocked the bolt and threw open the door just as I registered the smell of rotting wood.
Chip stood on the threshold, wearing a turquoise scrunchy around his topknot. He held out a bottle of wine.
Hello, mate. Did you miss me?
___
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I'm currently without internet at home and have been since last Wednesday. You realize just how dependent you are on something when it suddenly goes away! It has been good, however, to take a break and live offline more.
Getting back to the story... Chip just showed up: is this a coincidence or is he in cahoots with Norvin?
Thanks for sticking with me as I work my way through Verity and Alek's story! XOXOXO